White girls can jump....

DSC_7225_filtered
Originally uploaded by Jools Smith

...and here's the proof! Yes, it appears that I CAN jump on to rails (or in this case an evil ribbed gas pipe) from side on, low height kickers!

I have to admit that I was disappointed when we arrived at MK on Friday night to find that the kicker that was shown on the slope plan had been squashed and removed ("because we couldn't remember if the airbag was tonight or tomorrow" - it was tomorrow obviously as the airbag has been there on the 1st Saturday of the month for at least 18 months). The whole reason for us driving there for the session was for me to do some kicker work, not only for that tiny International comp I'm hoping to enter in January but also because next week sees me in Scotland for a jam session & a big air comp as part of the Westbeach Snowflex Tour and I need to keep working on "the fear". Still we were there, 75 miles away from home and I'd already paid so I figured that if nothing else I could work on my switch riding (riding with my wrong leg going downhill first) and just have a mess around for an hour or so while Jools took some pictures of our friends. Seeing as how he'd jumped through numerous corporate hoops to get permission to take pictures there (must have public liability insurance, must ask permission in advance, must bring email of permission) and because some of our mates had also made a special trip up we couldn't do our normal trick of not riding, getting our money back and driving home for Chinese takeaway instead!

So after a few runs of hitting the kink box rail I moved up to hitting it switch. It was a ride on rail (no gap between the jump on and the rail itself) so I felt fairly confident in giving it a go. All was well but if I'm honest I was getting a bit bored. Hitting 1 toy in a run of 130m gets dull fast.....and to be honest the whole reason I started freestyling in the first place is because i got bored just riding down the slope....so I had a ponder on the lift ride up and decided enough was enough it was time to face another of my fears (I'm allowed more than one, right?) and try the toy at the top. A ribbed gas pipe, with a low side on kicker! Now I HATE gas pipes and I just can't get my head round side on kickers onto rails. Well I can get my head round them, in my head I can do them just fine, it's actually convincing my body to do what my head tells it to. Still we were only 45 minutes into a 4 hour session so I decided to give it a shot. My first try I made contact with it, not on the top of the gas pipe were I should have, but on the side, round about 2 o'clock in the grand scheme of things, still it was contact made and it was enough to give me the confidence to keep trying.

Two hours later, after continuous laps and a slightly stressed encounter with someone who was trying to help but who completely put my back up (I really need to write a post on "girly supportiveness and the need for hugs in snowboarding" - and my views on the subject) I not only managed to do a jump on 50:50, so riding with my board along the top of the gas pipe pointing down the slope, but also a jump on boardslide, facing down the slope with the board at right angles to the gas pipe. So not only did I prove I could do it, was dropping in from the right place and wasn't too tired after a handful of attempts but I took a step towards beating another of my fears (next stop side on rails....proper ones!)

It wasn't until I got home and Jools showed me the picture above that I actually realised that I was really jumping onto the pipe! In my head I was just scraping on to it and my technique felt all over the place, but looking at the picture I can see I don't actually look too bad. It's also given me real confidence in trying this on something a bit more meaty, in fact I'm hoping Castleford have their side on street rail out next week when we're up there because I'm starting to believe that I really can do it

So thanks Jools for capturing that shot, and in a way I have to say thanks MK SNO!zone for forcing me to try side on gas pipes by removing the kicker (just don't do it every week!)

More pics of me from Friday night can be found here